Viasat’s award-winning, high-speed in-flight connectivity service played a key role in helping our airline partner, Aeromexico, communicate details to customers of how it operated a recent flight to Canada in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.
Aeromexico took part in the SkyTeam alliance’s Sustainable Flight Challenge – a call to arms for participating global airlines to use everything at their disposal to operate a single flight with minimal impact on the environment.
The aim of the challenge, says SkyTeam, is to encourage participating airlines to go “above and beyond by finding the most sustainable way to operate one single flight in their existing networks.” All learnings and innovations from these flights will later be shared openly with the rest of the airline industry, to help the sector on its journey toward a net-zero carbon future.
Viasat customer Aeromexico stepped up to the Sustainable Flight Challenge by operating a flight from Mexico City to Vancouver on May 10. During the flight, it adopted a range of techniques to reduce the carbon footprint of passengers on board – from the moment they left home to their arrival at the other end.
Measures taken included providing free, shared minibus transport to the airport to reduce the use of individual cars; creating a more sustainable onboard menu; handing out reusable cups for in-flight beverages to cut the amount of single-use plastics; and distributing blankets made from recycled plastic bottles.
Aeromexico also agreed during the flight to double each passenger donation to its Vuela Verde voluntary carbon-offsetting program, which supports sustainable projects throughout Mexico.
Viasat’s part in supporting this historic flight was to cover the bandwidth costs so Aeromexico could provide free in-flight Wi-Fi to the passengers on board.
When connecting to the onboard Wi-Fi, passengers were presented with an option for sponsored internet. After clicking on the banner, customers were directed to an Aeromexico webpage detailing the steps taken to reduce the environmental impact of their special flight.
“Aeromexico has always taken a proactive approach when discussing sustainable development, and their continuous effort to implement actions that go beyond the industry standards shows they’re committed to drive innovation and sustainable solutions that can promote real change to air travel,” says Vanessa Temer, Viasat airline program manager.
“Since sustainability, collaboration, and innovation are also part of Viasat’s foundation, it’s an honor to partner with Aeromexico by providing free connectivity to passengers on board selected flights during the SkyTeam Sustainable Flight Challenge.”
This is not the first time Viasat covered airline bandwidth costs to help support and publicize sustainability initiatives. To mark International Women’s Day in March, Viasat shared and promoted the vital work being carried out through our ongoing partnership with the United Nations.
We did this by enabling six of our airline partners – Aeromexico, Azul, Delta Air Lines, Finnair, Icelandair, and NEOS – to provide free Wi-Fi to passengers throughout the entire month of March. This helped amplify and promote the U.N. Women’s theme for IWD 2022: Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow. The theme recognizes the vital role women and girls around the world can play in building a more sustainable future while empowering them to lead the charge on climate change adaptation, mitigation, and response.
Viasat’s most recent work with Aeromexico on the Sustainable Flight Challenge is just the latest example of how our super-fast in-flight satellite internet service helps promote messages on issues close to our hearts. Together with our partners, we have helped highlight issues such as gender equality and tackling the climate crisis to a wide variety of airline passengers – a uniquely diverse and captive audience.